Total darkness. There was a pit of total darkness under me glittering with small pinpricks of stars. The night sky wasn't meant to be below a person but here we were, the sky below was a pitch black crater driven deep into the dream realm. Residing above it were the scattered islands and chains which connected each adjacent island and stayed afloat in the air with an unknown force.
Under me was pure darkness, above me was a radiant blue sky painted in every refreshing shade of blue, interrupted every now and then by a wispy stroke of white clouds.
It was confusing, looking up to see the blue gradients and the shining sun and then peering down into a lightless abyss.
That same lightless abyss would eat me up if I fell.
Though, the chains were truly enormous. Each chain link was as thick as a main road in NQSC, and longer than 12 buses back to back. Yet despite this huge amount of space, I was still wary.
The metal surface under me was mostly rusted, a mix of reflective and decayed iron that resembled the difference between the skies above and below me. Some of the chain links had holes the size of sewer drain covers, the metal torn off and eaten by the chain worms. Along with the bite marks were rivers of cracks running through the chain link or entire sections of the chain links missing.
The chains swayed a little in the wind, not much, only a few inches. However, the metal screamed in a muffled high pitch, bearing the weight of thousands of years.
"Alright." I let out one breath and then pursed my lips tightly.
Yes, each chain link was more than wide enough for me to run around in circles, yet it did little to quell the fear of the sky below.
My knees shook with every step, maintaining balance that was honestly unneeded given the amount of space I had.
I slowly looked forward, to see the figure of Ford walking forward with little care. He had the [Leaping Harpoon] propped up on shoulder and whistled a light-hearted tune. The wooden armor with patterns of orange and blue enveloped his chest, arms and legs--making him glow in the sunlight.
Besides being his usual dumb self, Ford had another reason to be so carefree. The wooden armor had a passive ability to not let the user slip, and that was a rather invaluable ability considering we were walking on chains suspended high above an abyss. The big oaf even glanced behind at us at times to flash us a cheeky smirk.
I didn't know what was the big deal anymore since he didn't have the ability to use his aspect. Unlike the Great Plateau with endless wet grounds for miles, the chains had not a single drop of water. If anything, Ford was at his weakest state. Yet, he still smiled. Idiot.
Speaking about the rest of us, Lorelei was only a few steps behind Dusk who was carrying Eternity upon her back. Even though the large dark wolf wyvern was big enough to consider the chains small, it strutted along the metal surface with light grace. Eternity was kneeling on top of the wolf while gripping onto a few locks of midnight fur, her head was on a swivel looking at us and searching for any oncoming enemies.
Eternity was fully healed, so there really was no medical need for her to hitch a ride on Eternity's echo. However, after learning that her aspect ability allowed her to heal anyone under her sights, it only made sense that she had the high ground by riding on Dusk.
Anyway, the dark wolf was a wyvern and possessed two forelegs that could stretch out to reveal its bat wings. Theoretically, no, it was a fact that Dusk could fly us to the next few islands or even straight to the citadel itself.
Lorelei went against this idea. She said that the higher we flew, the more powerful the mystical force known as the crushing would be forced onto them. They would then lose balance in the air and either plummet into the sky below or be caught by a powerful nightmare creature.
Alright, so why not fly low? Well, the chain worms and nightmare creatures would easily spot a large wolf-wyvern and try to attack them. Wait, but wasn't Dusk fast enough to outspeed and outfly the Great Devil, Moonlight Surge? Sure, its physical abilities were extremely low in exchange for its ability to multiply infinitely--thank the spell for that--yet it was still a great devil. Even if the harrowing abominations crawling underneath the floating islands left their homes and personally chased after us, we would probably be fine. Maybe.
Still, the point was that flying on Dusk was the most logical choice! What sort of argument was left to decree we would walk on our own two feet instead?
I looked back to gaze at the beauty who was only a few inches smaller than me. Her serene steel-blue eyes assessed everything with complete focus, barely betraying any flicker of fear if it wasn't already extinguished. Long and spiky black eyelashes curtained her blue eyes, hiding any secrets. Her black hair fell down her back like a sheet of black silk, each thread carefully strung out and finely crafted.
She was a cold beauty that let no one in. The one with the true name of Warden of Wyverns as a sleeper.
SO PLEASE TELL ME WHY WAS SHE SO STUPID?
Yet again, she went on and on about the spell's assessment and how difficult the winter solstice nightmare was and how well we could overcome the challenges we faced would affect our rewards-but it gets to a point!
I turned my head again to continue the precarious task of crossing the chains. The rant in my head continued as, with some shame, kept on cursing her in my head. Legacy clan girl, true name, good fighter, cold beauty--screw all of that.
Wait, wouldn't making our own journey harder make the spell think we're stupid? So, wouldn't we be assessed lower than if we went full throttle from the start?
I didn't know about anyone else, but Lorelei was such a good candidate for the deadweight individual she lectured us about leaving behind.
I shook my head, my own black locks of hair slapping against my face. I was stupid for having such thoughts. Thoughts like these were what caused cohorts to break up…what caused human blood to be spilled by human blades. These thoughts are nothing but a fog clouding what view I have of the task now.
Everything will be fine-
A sharp whistle cut through the air past my ear.
I instinctively stopped, all my movements coming to a swift halt. I stopped breathing but my heartbeat continued breaking record speed, my ribcage trembled trying to keep my mad heart at bay.
My pupils shifted to look at an obsidian arrow that stabbed into the metal surface of the chain a few meters from me.
The arrow acted like a sundial, its shadow a thin straight line behind it.
Then an odd thing happened before my eyes.
The thin straight shadow of the arrow shook, transforming instantly into the shadow of two people with long curving horns.
Then the two shadows of the two people and the obsidian arrow swapped places from the immaterial and material worlds. The arrow became a shadow and the two human shadows…
They were standing back to back, which was a stretch considering the height of the taller one. The taller man was at least three times taller than the average man, and though he was covered in a curtain of dark sheets, his large and defined muscles surrounding his body like armor rather than flesh were unmistakable. He widened his back and with his long dark hair billowing in the wind, he revealed four arms each ending with five long claws.
Though I couldn't see his face with his back turned to me, I could see that the mask he wore, while normal sized, could only cover the upper half of his face. It gave us a unveiled view of his shark-like razor teeth.
The second person, much smaller and normal sized, faced me. She had a feminine figure and wore the same dark robe as the goliath man behind her, though hers was kept in place by black shoulder guards. Her white hair was cut unevenly, falling down her sides in different heights.
The mask…she wore the mask too.
A black lacquered wooden mask with swirling patterns and spikes protruding from the back. Teeth bared in fury with four large fangs that jutted out from its mouth, bloodlust uncontained. Three curling horns rose from the front of the mask, forming a pseudo crown and…the eyes.
They were darker than the sky below. They were more terrifying than the abyss under me, a million miles deep.
My mouth was dry as I spoke the word, so familiar to me.
"...Mongrel?"